Vending machine for compressed gases and fluids in containers



March 17, 1925.

A. B'ALKEMA VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FLUIDS IN CONTAINERS 7 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 29, 1922 Balrm mm March 17. 1925. 1,530,288

A. BALKEMA VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FLUIDS IN CONTAINERS Filed NOV- 33, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 2 I j; a

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A.,BALKEMA VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FDUIDS IN CONTAINERS Filed Nov. 29, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 5 cilia/Z145 \mmw March 17. 1925. 1,530,288

A. BALKEMA VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FLUIDS IN CQNTAINERS Filed NOV- 29, 1922 '7 Sheets-Sheet i A) S v ,6 I I /,z0 4 p29 0 g I I l .-4

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I A. BALKEMA VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND mums m cou'rumaas Filed NOV- 29, 1922 '7 Sheets-Shet 5 March 17. 1925. 1,530,288

I Y A. BALKEMA VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FLUIDS IN CONTAINERS 'Filed Nov. 29, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet 6 March 17, 1925. 1,530,288

A. BALKEMA NG MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FLUIDS. IN CONTAINERS VENDI Filed Nov. 29, 1922 7 Sheets-Sheet v 6)? 55 7 ,z7 lllllllllAl' o i, l

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UNITED STATES IPALIENT OFFICE.

ALBER'IUS BALKEMA, F FLINT, MICHIGAN, ASSIGNOR TO C 0 PRODUCTS COM PANY, OF PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA.

VENDING MACHINE FOR COMPRESSED GASES AND FLUIDS IN CONTAINERS.

Application filed November 29, 1922. Serial N'o. 604,107.

To all whom it may concern.

Be it known that I, A BERTUS BAIiKEMA,

a citizen of the United States, residing at Flint. in the county of Genesee and. State of Michigan, have invented new and useful Improvements in a Vending Machine for Compressed Gases and Fluids in Containers, of which the following isa specification.

My invention relates to new and useful improvements in a vending machine for compressed gases and fluids in containers, and has for its primary object to provide a mechanism which will be placed in operative condition upon the insertion of a coin so that thereafter the turning of a suit-able crank will actuate said mechanism to permit the insertion of an empty container, to move said container forward and to release a full container. Another object of the invention is to provide a simple and improved means for removing the empty containers and replacing them with filled ones.

Another object of the invention is to provide an improved coin actuated mechanism for controlling the operations of the machine.

A further object of the invention is to provide a slotted rack to control the inlet of the machine to provide mea s to automatically reverse the movement of the rack during one complete revolution of the crank.

A still further object of the invention is to provide means for preventing retrograde movement of'the containers With these ends in view, this invention consists in the details of construction and combination of elements hereinafter set forth and then specifically designated by the claims.

In order that those skilled in the art to which this invention appertains, may understand how to make and use the same, I will describe its construction in detail, referring by numeralsto the accompanying drawings forming a part of this application, in

Fig. 1, is a side elevation of a vending machine embodying my improvements and for the purposes enumerated above, a portion of the door or closing plate being shown in a lowered position.-

Fig. 2, is a fragmentary sectional end elevation thereof.

Fig. 3, is an enlarged plan View of the rack. R Fig. 4, is an end view thereof.

Fig. 5, is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view at the line 5.'5 of Fig. 2.

Fig. 6, is a sectional view on the line 66 of Fig. 5.

Fig. 7, is a side elevation of guides to the chute.

Fig. 8, is an end view thereof.

Fig. 9, is a similar view of the complementary guide.

.Fig. 10, is an enlarged sectional view at the line 10-10 of Fig.

one of the Fig. 11, is a side elevation of the cam' and its component parts.

Fig. 12, is an end View thereof.

Fig. 13, is a section at the line 13-13 of Fig. 10.

Fig. 14, is a section at the line 1414t of Fig. 10. c

Fig. 15, is a sect-ion at the line 15-15 of Fig. 10.

In carrying out my invention as here embodied, 20 represents a suitable body, casing or container open at one side but normally closed by a slide door or closure 21 mounted between the walls of the casing or body and the guide clips 22 carr1ed by said body.

Within this casing is housed a chute or holder 23. for suitable containers conventionally represented by the circles 24 and one end of this chute or holder terminates at the bottom of the body or casing in a depression 25 adjacent which Wlll be located an outlet opening 26 in the cover when the latter is in its closed position to permit along approximately their medial lines as indicated at 32 and secured together by suitable means such as screws 33 or their 2 the removal of the container which has equivalent. In the particular embodiment illustrated the interior of this housing is divided intoan'inlet receptacle or chamber 34, a rack receptacle or chamber 35 and a gear receptacle or chamber 36. The inlet chamber 34 is open at the top and at the bottom so as to align with the inlet opening 27 while said inlet chamber is separated from the rack chamber by a depending partition 37 the edges of which are spaced from the bottom and side walls of the housing to permit the passage of a U shaped rack 38 slida-bly mounted within the rack chamber 35 and having a portion lying across the bottom of the inlet chamber 34 which portion is adapted to pass out of the housing through a slot 39 in one end wall of said housing. I

As shown in Figs. 3 and 4, this rack 38 comprises a bottom wall 40 having an aperture 41 cut therein which under certain conditions is adapted to align wit-h the inlet chamber 34 and the inlet opening 27 to permit the passage of a container into the body or casing and preferably the -metal .cut from the bottom wall to form the aperture 41 is bent downward at right angles to form the tongue 42 and that portion adjacent the b ottom wall of the rack is cut away at both' sldes to produce a reduced neck portion 43 to travel in a slot 28 in the top wall of the body or casing and a similar slot 44 in the bottom wall of the housing 29. From the bottom wall 40 project upstanding flanges 45 and 46, each of which has a series of rack teeth 47 formed in their upper edge.

With the teeth of the rack' mesh the rack p1I110l1S 48 and 49 keyed to the shaft 50 suitably journalled in the walls of the housing. Associated with each rack pinion is a mitre gear 51, 52 free to revolve independently of the rack pinions as well as the shaft 50 and these mitre gears are each provided with an element of a clutch represented by the numeral 53 for coaction with a double clutch member 54having the complementary clutch elements 55 for coaction" with the clutch elements "53. The clutch member 54 is splined to the shank 50 for longitudinal sliding movement thereon and is provided with parallel circumferential flanges 56 between which operates the cam 57 keyed to the shaft 58 carrying an integral gear 59 meshing with a pinion 60 fixed to the mitre gear 52 Meshing with the gears 51 52 is an intermediate gear 61 journalled on a trunnion 62 'or its equivalentmounted in one of the side walls of the housing.

The outer end of the shaft 58 is provided with a coin slot 63, Fig. 15, on which portion is mounted the operating handle or crank 64 also having a coin slot 65 passing entirely therethrough and adapted to register with the coin slot in the shaft. The slotted portion memes 0f the crank handle as well as the same por tion of the shaft is housed within the coin box 66 having a round'coin chamber 67 to which leads the coin slot 68, said coin chamber also communicating with the slide chamber '69 wherein is mounted the stationary plate 70 provided with a recess 71 and a coin slot 72. Within the recess of the plate 70 is slidably mounted the sliding plate 7 3 provided with a coin slot 74- and a lug or projection 7 5, said sliding plate being normally held in that position which will keep the coin slot 74 out of alignment with the coin slot 72 by means of the spring 76. It is to be noted that the coin slots 68 and 72 are in alignment while the coin slots 63 and 65 will align with. the first named coin slots when the parts are in proper position to begin the operation of the machine.

The operation of the coin controlled mechanism will be as follows: The parts being in the positions shown in Fig. 15 when a coin is dropped in the slot 68 it will enter the slots 65 and 63 and rest upon the sliding plate 73 at one side of its lug 75 then as the operating handle crank is revolved in the proper direct-ion the crank shaft 58 will be moved together until the projecting portion of the coin contacts with the other side of the lug 75 then the continued movement of the crank will actuate the slide 73 against the action of the spring 76 until the slot 74' aligns with the slot 72 at which time the coin being in a vertical position will drop through all of said-slots into the coin receptacle 77.

During the revolvin of the crank and the associated shaft 58 the cam 57 and the gear 59 will .be revolved therewith thereby causing the pinion 60 to revolve and carry the mitre gear 52 along with it so that their intermediate gear 61 and the gear 51 will be revolved .in a direction opposite to the gear 52. At the same time the cam 57 will cause the clutch member 54 to be moved into engagement with the gear 51 so as to revolve therewith, thus revolving the shaft 50 so as to cause the rack pinions to move the rack 40 forward untilethe tongue 42 reaches the point shown in dotted lines and indicated by the numeral 7 8 at which time the aperture 44 will align with the inlet chamber 34 and the inlet opening 27 so that an empty container previously resting upon therack Within the chamber 34 will drop onto the guides 79 and 80 and roll toward the chute until arrested in its movement by the stop 81. The guides 7 9 and 80 are spaced apart a sufficient distance to permit the tongue 42 to pass therebetween, as shown in Fig. 6.

During the continued revolving of the shaft 58 the cam 57 will cause the clutch member 54 to'be disengaged from the mitre gear 51 and engage the mitre gear 52 which s, as before stated, turning in a direction loo opposite to the gear 51. This action therefore reverses the direction of rotation of the clutch 54 and likewise reverses the movement of the shaft 50 so that through the rack pinions 48 and 49 the rack 40 will be moved in the opposite direction causing the tongue 4-2 to be moved to the position shown in dotted lines and indicated by the numeral 82in Fig;

5, thereby forcing the empty container past the stop 81.

The stop 81 comprises a plate or head 83 mounted upon a shank 84 slidably mounted within a socket in a suitable bracket 85 and having a reduced end 86 about which is coiled a spring 87 resting against the shoulder 88 to normally force the head of the stop above the plane of the. chute and the shank of said stop has a foot piece 89 thereon to prevent accidental or unauthorized removal of the stop. I

One of the flanges of the rack has a slot 90 therein which comprises a horizontal portion 91 and an inclined portion 92. In this slot is located a pin 93 -Qc'arried by the upper end of the connecting rod 94 the. lower end of said connecting rod being pivoted as at 95 to the arm of the dog or pawl 96 which is pivoted at 97 and has two spaced fingers or projections 98 and 99v so arranged that when the dog or pawl is in the position shown in Fig. 1, the finger 98 engages the lowermost container and prevents its removal but when sald dog lsactuated the finger 99 will engage the next succeeding container and at the same time the finger 98 will be disengaged from the lowermost container so as to. permit it to roll on to the depression 25 from which point it may be removed through the opening 26; c

The dog 96 is not actuated until the rack is moved rearwardly a suflicient distance to cause the pin 93 to travel into the inclined portion 92 of the slot 91 and at all other times said dog is locked and cannot be tampered with due to the fact that the pin 93- is traveling in the horizontal portion of the slot 91. a

In order to lock the door or closure 21 in a closed position, I provide a latch 100 which is fixed to the upper edge of the door or closure and has a lip 101'at its upper or outer free end. That portion, of the latch carrying the lip is offset, as shown in Fig. 2. and is adapted to pass into the latch chamber 102 in the bottom of the coin box, as shown in Fig. 10, and in this latch chamber is a pivoted keeper 103 pivoted at 104, the said keeper having a recess 104 to register with the latch 100 when said keeper is swung up into the chamber 102, as shown in Fig. 1, at which time the lock bolt 105 of the lock 106 may be shot into the bolt notch 107 in the free end of the keeper, thusclosing the coin receptacle of the coin box and locking the door in a closed position Of couise I do not wish to be limited to the exact details of construction as herein shown as these may be varied within the limits of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of my invention.

Having thus fully described my invention, what I claim as new and useful is 1. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a, casing having an inlet.- and an outlet, a chute leading. from the inlet to the outlet, guides between the inlet andthe entrance to the chute, and a stop interposed between said gudes and chute, of a housing mounted on the casing and having an inlet chamber in alignment with 4 chute, means depending from said rack to I force a container past the stop and a co n controlled mechanism for actuating said rack. V ,t

2. In a machine of the class described, the combination with a cas ng having an inlet and an outlet, a chute leading from the inlet to the outlet, guides between the inlet and the entrance to the chute, and a stop interposed between said guides and chute, of a housing mounted on the casing and having an inlet chamber in alignment with the inlet to the casing and further provided with a rack chamber communicating with the inlet chamber, a depending guard wall or partition interposed between said chambers, a rack slidably mounted in the rack chamber with .a portion projecting across the inlet chamber, said rack having an aperture normally lying within the rack chamber and adapted under certain conditions to align with the inlet opening to permit the passage of a container from the inlet chamber through said opening toward the chute, means depending from said rack to force a container past the stop, a'pawl pivoted adjacent the outlet and having two sets of fin ers arranged so that when actuated the lowermost container will be re.- leased and the others temporarily held against movement, and a coin controlled mechanism for simultaneously actuating said awl and the rack.

3. n a machine of the class described, the combination with a casing having an inlet and an outlet, a chute leading from the inlet to the outlet, guides between the inlet and the entrance to the chute, and a stop interposed between said guidts and chute, of a housing mounted on the casing and having an inlet chamber in alignment with the inlet to the casing and further provided with a rack chamber communicating with the inlet chamber, a depending guard wall or partition interposed between said chambers, a rack slidably mounted in the rack chamber with a portion projecting across the inlet chamber, said rack having an aperture normally lying with'n the rack chamber and adapted under certain conditions to align with the inlet opening to permit the passage of a container from the in let chamber through said opening toward the chute, means depending from said rack to force a container past the stop, apawl pivoted against the outlet and having two sets of fingers arranged so that when actuated the lowermost container will be released and the others temporarily held against movement, a coin controlled mechanism for actuating said rack, a connecting rod pivoted to said pawl, a pin carried by said connecting rod 'for registration with a slot in the rack, said slot having a horizon- ;al portion, an inclined portion whereby the movement of the rack in that direction which will cause the pin to enter the inclined portion of the slot will actuate the pawl, and a coin controlled mechanism for operating said rack.

4:. The combination with a casing having" an inlet and an outlet, a chute runnipg from the inlet to the outlet for holding suitable containers, means adjacent the outlet to control the release of said containers, means associated with the inlet to control the insertion of said containers, said means including a U shaped apertured rack having teeth alon the upper edges of the flanges, a shaft lo 'member having a pair of spaced circumferential flanges, a pinion fixed to one of the mitre gears, another shaft parallel with the first named shaft, a gear fixed thereon and meshing with the last named inion, a cam also fixed to said shaft an cooperating with the clutch member to move the same longitudinally, and a coin controlled means to revolve the last named shaft.

In testimony whereof, I have hereunto afixed my signature.

ALBERTUS BALKEMA.

cated above the rack transversely thereof, rack pinions fixed to said 

